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Rick Santorum's top 10 problems

Hey, Newt - you’re not the only one in the race with some serious baggage. Man-of-the-hour Rick Santorum, riding high after his Tuesday hat trick of wins in Missouri, Minnesota and Colorado, has said and done plenty of things that could come back to bite him in the primaries or general election if he gets that far. Here are POLITICO’s top 10:

1. Losing Big in 2006: Despite being elected twice as a congressman, then twice again as a senator from Pennsylvania, Santorum’s last race ended in a landslide defeat in his homestate that raises questions about his national electability. Indeed, he was trounced in 2006 by 18 points by Bob Casey Jr., at the time the largest margin of defeat for an incumbent since 1980.

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2. Lobbying, D.C. Background: Santorum did work for Universal Health Services and other lobbying groups after he left the Senate, which he has defended as consistent with his “values.” But Mitt Romney has already started pounding him on this issue, saying Tuesday evening in Denver that “Washington will never be reformed by someone who has been compromised by the culture of Washington.”

3. Endorsed Romney in 2008: In the last presidential cycle, Santorum endorsed Romney, now his competitor, for president. “Governor Romney is the candidate who will stand up for the conservative principles that we hold dear,” Santorum said in a statement.

4. Backed Arlen Specter: In 2004, Santorum endorsed Specter (liberal) over Pat Toomey (conservative) in the Pennsylvania Republican senatorial primary, a nod that has since come to haunt him. Specter defeated Toomey, but would switch parties in 2009.

Readers' Comments (144)

THESE ARE SERIOUS ISSUE THAT ALL VOTERS SHOULD TAKE INTO ACCOUNT WITH RS....

THEY SHOW HE IS NOT CONSERVATIVE, WASHINGTON INSIDER, SUPPORTER OF HUGE RATE INCREASES IN MEDICAL HEATHLCARE ISSUES, TOOK A LOT OF EARMARKS MONEY, BUT NOW OPPOSES IT..,,, LOOTER OF HIS OWN CHARITY FUND TO BENEFIT HIMSELF AND HIS FREINDS.SAYING WHAT HE THINKS VOTERS WANT TO HEAR ,,EVEN IF IT MEANS CHANGING HIS POSTIONS....THE BIGGEST OF ALL IS HIS HUGE LOSS OF HIS SENATE SEAT BY A WIDE MARGIN

HE IS NOT ELECTABLE... AND IF HE IS THE NOIMEE WE WILL SUFFER FOUR MORE YEARS OF OBAMA

Of course the right has looked the other way at 'plural marriage' in Utah for over a century because polygamists wield so much political power there. However, when it's convenient they bash same sex marriage by saying it will lead to insidious polygamy, which they condone when politically expedient.

Let's face it-- Rick is a nasty piece of work whose positions are not merely opposed to what the majority of Americans think, but truly offensive. He wants to repeal the OCA, but his family fortune is tied up in health care. He wants to hasten the transfer of Americans' wealth not to the next generation, but to the industry of which he is a collaborator and beneficiary. He wants to destroy unions so that every individual is forced to deal with the owner on his own, because (notwithstanding his humble roots) he values capital more than labor. He wants to do away with capital gains taxes so the wealthiest pay no taxes at all. He is the greatest enemy of individual liberty to come along in a good while. He wants to tell you who you can love, what kind of relationship you can have, how you can have sex, and under what conditions. He is opposed to contraception and sex education because he believes sex is evil, except under his rules. Basically, he is a pervert, a sex-obsessed sicko parading as some kind of holier-than-thou figure. He wears his religion on his sleeve, but his views are anything but reflective of what Jesus seemed to say, if you read the actual accounts of the apostles. He is a war monger who would think nothing of sending our young people off to fight more wars in the Middle East-- for what? Personally, he is said to be a sanctimonious, judging, prig, loathed by his colleagues. The word santorum has entered the vernacular to describe a particularly nasty substance, and Dan Savage's neologism is completely a propos.

Listening to Santorum explain to a bunch of Texas anti-contraconception fanatics today about how he committed himself on the Senate floor to push his wife to deliver a child before the viability of her pregnancy had been determined, then pushed his wife to follow through on his commitment after finding out that the pregnancy would be dangerous to her health. He admitted she could have died, leaving his existing children without a mother.

Way to put your career ahead of your family, Rick.

Upshot of Santorum's remarks in McKinney, TX, today:

Millions to spend on interuterine surgery in desperate efforts to save every fatally defective fetus

. . . and not one cent to spend on contraception.

All in the name of family values.

As if resources wasted on defective fetuses are in any way related to strengthening the family.

The children who are already here deserve maximum attention from their parents, as compared to time, money, and emotion wasted on futile medical procedures performed on a fatally defective fetus.

Only superstition can justify the goal of putting one more soul in heaven, no matter how short (days) the life of the defective fetus once delivered.

Superstitions about infant souls going to heaven after a day or two outside the womb should not be the foundation of public policy.

I think it is sick that Santorum is exploiting his wife's tragedy for the sake of his self centered political ego. He tells the story of his wife's ttragedy as if he were talking about himself winning a Bronze Star in a Faluja firefight, as if he were a veteran of anything more dangerous than CSPAN telecasts from the Senate floor, and as if he was the one being operated on rather than his wife.

Now how about an "Obama's top 10 problems" piece Mr. Mak? Be sure to dig into Obama's past as far back as Santorum's.

Let's hear about some of the associations Obama has had with controversial people and groups. Let's here how he voted on things in his political career that he has since had a "change of heart" towards. Let's hear about some things he's said in the past that would be embarrassing for a campaign, like when he first ran for president, at a campaign rally calling Bush "unpatriotic" for raising the debt $5 trillion. He's served less than half the time Bush did and added as much. Based on sometimes inappropriate questions so far in Republican debates directly calling out candidates' past actions and statements, I think quoting him from 2008 as saying that and asking, "How do you feel about that statement now that you have added more to our nation's debt in just one term?" would be a FANTASTIC question.

I don't support Santorum and am not exactly anti-Obama (they're all political whores in my opinion), but the one-sidedness of the media in 2008 was ridiculous and it's already looking as though it will be the same this time around. Why can't both candidates be equally ridiculed, fact-checked, and questioned?

This is exactly why Ron Paul is the only true conservative in the race. You can't say you're a conservative then want to kill everyone outside the U.S. like Santorum does. Santorum will bankrupt this country so fast with his wars which are nothing but a subsidy for the military industrial complex, and it's bankrupting this country.

You guys forgot a HUGE problem, his stance on child sex abuse scandals.

When the Priest sex abuse scandal in the Catholic church first surfaced it wasn't believed it was anything more than a few incidents isolated in Massachusetts. Always the sleezebag, Santorum said "it is no surprise that Boston, a seat of academic, political and cultural liberalism in America, lies at the center of the storm." Of course, it couldn't be the fault of the sick freak Priests actually having sex with kids, strike up another for "personal responsibility".

In 2002 Santorum nominated Penn State coach and child raper Sandusky , for a "“Congressional Angels in Adoption Award." award. Now, a few questions, like, what the hell is the US government doing handing out awards at taxpayer expense when they should be.......ummm....working? Smaller government that runs around handing out awards to child rapers????

Now Rick wants to lead the country????? Sorry Rick, your values are not mine ( the only award I would hand out for child rape is a bullet to the head) and your judgement stinks.

Ms. Judith: "He LIED and I do not want a LIAR for POTUS." Go to all the fact-checkers you went to for Santorum and you will find statements made by Santorum, Romney, Gingrich, Paul, and Obama rated as mostly or totally false. I guess you can't vote for any of the candidates, Republican or Democrat, huh?